Amazon asks employees to list 5 achievements for performance reviews, bosses track office attendance
After cutting 14,000 roles, Amazon is now tightening control over its workforce with tougher performance reviews and closer monitoring of office attendance. Employees are reportedly now being evaluated not only on what they do, but also on how active they are in the office.
Amazon is tightening the screws on its corporate workforce after cutting more than 14,000 roles last year. The company is now reportedly introducing a tougher performance review system that keeps individual output and even office attendance under strict surveillance. A latest report from Business Insider, citing internal guidelines, reveals that Amazon is changing its evaluation process, known as Forte, and is now asking employees to clearly state three to five “accomplishments” that define their impact over the past year.
The new changes to performance reviews replace Amazon’s earlier, more open-ended self-assessments. Taking a broader look at personal strengths or asking “How do you contribute when you perform at your best?” Instead of just answering questions like, employees are now reportedly being asked to provide concrete examples of work they’ve done, including specific projects, goals achieved, or improvements made to systems and processes.
As reported, the internal guideline states, “Achievements are specific projects, goals, initiatives or process improvements that demonstrate the impact of your work. Consider situations where you took a risk or did something new, even if it didn’t get you the results you expected.”
The guidelines also note that these achievements must show measurable impact. Additionally, employees are encouraged to include examples of innovation and risk-taking, even if those efforts were not entirely successful.
In addition to noting three to five accomplishments, Amazon also asks employees to outline how they plan to grow professionally, making visionary growth a formal part of the review. Managers will reportedly evaluate these presentations along with feedback from coworkers, alignment with Amazon’s leadership principles, and role-specific skills. This all adds up to an “overall value” rating, which directly impacts annual salary and career progression.
Amazon is tracking the time employees spend in the office
Not just work measurement, Amazon is now also keeping a close eye on how much time employees are spending in the office. Another report from Business Insider, citing the same internal document, suggests that the company has designed a dashboard that lets managers track not only whether employees are coming in, but also how long they stay and where they work from.
Amazon has also asked its managers to find out what type of “badgers” their employees are. The updated tool, which debuted in December, is refreshed daily and tracks office attendance over an eight-week period. It classifies employees into three groups: “low-time badgers”, who spend an average of less than four hours a day in the office; “Zero Badgers,” who have not entered any Amazon buildings; and “unassigned building badgers”, who often work from offices other than those officially assigned.
These labels are visible to managers and HR, and are now being used to evaluate employees’ overall performance and adherence to Amazon’s return-to-office expectations.
These new changes to Amazon’s corporate environment are said to be part of a broader cultural reset driven by CEO Andy Jassy, who has spent the last year reshaping Amazon’s corporate workforce operations. His reforms include flattening management layers, improving compensation models, and implementing a strict return-to-office policy.
The overhaul also comes in the shadow of last year’s major layoffs. In October, Amazon announced it would cut about 14,000 corporate roles to make the organization leaner and less bureaucratic, as well as doubling down on its “biggest bets” such as an emphasis on automation and generative artificial intelligence.